


Rearranging a Life

by ElegantButler



Series: Bryce's New Beginning [1]
Category: Max Headroom (TV)
Genre: Amnesia, Gen, Group Home, Recovery, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-15 03:13:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14782577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElegantButler/pseuds/ElegantButler
Summary: Traumatized into silence, Bryce finds his life taking a whole new turn.





	1. Chapter 1

Max Headroom: Rearranging A Life

 

Chapter 01: Identity Unknown

It had been several days since the metrocops had found him. Back then he’d been barely alive. No ID or credit tubes. He’d been checked into the hospital as a Blank Doe. As such, they would not be able to keep him there for long. Hospitals needed credits to run. And any patient who could not pay was kept for a minimum time before being released back out onto the streets. 

A woman in her late thirties walked into the room accompanied by the teenager’s doctor. She looked down at the unknown boy with compassion in her eyes. She had been working with children and teens his age ever since she had graduated high school and had taken up a volunteer job at a local children’s hospital to help pay for her college tuition.

“Good afternoon,” the doctor said, cheerily. “This is Miss Williams. She’s from Healing Home. We think you’ll be happy there until we can find out where you’re from and whether we want to send you back there.”

Miss Williams crouched down in front of the teen,who was sitting on the edge of the bed in complete silence. 

“Hello,” she said, kindly. She looked into his eyes and saw no responsiveness in them.

“He was hurt pretty badly when he was brought in,” the doctor told her. “Whatever it is that happened to him, it was so traumatic, he hasn’t spoken a single word since his arrival. We’ve performed dental and DNA scans, but those will take a month to retrieve since our system is being updated. So until then, since he’s technically a Blank Doe, we can’t keep him here.”

“He’ll be much happier at Healing Home than stuck in this place,” Miss Williams decided. “We’re very well equipped to work with him. As you know, we deal with traumatized teens and children. I’m sure he’ll be quite okay with us.”

“Well, then,” the doctor agreed. “Let me just get the paperwork for checking out and he’ll be all set to go.”

Half an hour later, Miss Williams was escorting her new charge to Healing Home. She helped him out of the car and led him into the house.

“Well,” she said as they walked inside, “this is Healing Home. It’ll be your home until we can find out where you ought to be. I’m betting there is someone out there who misses you and wants you home.” At least, she hoped this was the case. She prayed that he hadn’t been beaten and left for dead by his own family. She put such things out of her mind. It wouldn’t do for him to see pain on her face. Not when she wanted to cheer him up and bring him out of his shell.

“Come on,” she invited. “I’ll give you a tour. Then you can meet the other boys who live here.”


	2. Healing Home and the Worries of a Friend

Chapter 02: Healing Home and the Worries of a Friend

Miss Williams led the new boy into the hallway that separated the kitchen and dining area from the living room.

“This is our kitchen,” she said. “Residents are not permitted in the kitchen since there are utensils that are potentially hazardous. Our cook, Neil, however, is one of the best in town. So you can be sure of getting three healthy meals each day. Isn’t that right, Neil?”

Neil turned and gave a friendly wave, carrot in hand. “That’s right. Just making a nice beef stew for tonight, in fact. I hope you’ve got a hearty appetite.”

The teen did not reply. This didn’t bother Neil too much. At least he had learned not to take it personally. He didn’t like that this boy wasn’t speaking. Not because he was offended, but because it meant they couldn’t chat and laugh together. At least not yet.

Miss Williams continued the tour, clearing her throat to get the boy’s attention. She didn’t want to tap his shoulder, not knowing if it would set him off.

“The dining room is open at breakfast, lunch, and supper,” she told him. “Otherwise it’s off limits. Across the hall is the living room. Our TV is in that room. We watch in the evenings between six and eight. I know the networks and their sponsors would prefer it if we watched all day, but here we believe that human interaction helps to facilitate the healing process.”

She looked at him as if to assess whether he understood her little rant. If he did, he gave no indication. But he didn’t look confused either. So maybe there was hope of getting through to him.

She led him out into the back yard. Unlike most homes in the neighborhood where the backyards were full of antennas or satellite dishes, Healing Home’s backyard had a patio with chairs and a small vegetable garden encased in a small fence.

Four teenage boys and one man of about forty were working in the garden. The man waved as Miss Williams approached with the new resident.

“Who’s this?” middle-aged gardener asked.

“We don’t know,” Miss Williams told him. “He hasn’t spoken since he was first brought to the medical center. We can only hope for the best.”

“Well,” the gardener said, taking off his gloves and extending a hand. “Whoever you are, I’m sure you’ll find things safe and comfortable here. Right, Aaron?” this last remark was directed to a boy of about seventeen who was crouching down and picking weeds.

“As comfortable as you can get while picking weeds,” Aaron confirmed, grinning despite the sweat on his brow. He rubbed at it, succeeding in leaving a line of dirt in its place.

The silent teen neither flinched nor accepted the gardener’s hand. Instead, he looked at the garden in curiosity. 

“I suspect you’ve never seen one of these before,” the gardener realized. He looked at Miss Williams. “Must’ve grown up in the city. Might be a good place to start if you’re trying to find his parents or guardians.”

Miss Williams nodded in agreement. It was a good idea, though she was neither prepared nor permitted to discuss the matter further. Instead, she turned to her new charge who was watching another boy who was doing another gardening chore.

“We have to finish the tour,” she told him. “After that, you’re welcome to come back out and help if they’re still working in the garden.”

“I’ll try to save some weeds for you to pull,” Aaron called out after them as they headed back inside.

Miss Williams led the teen to the second floor.

“This is where the bedrooms are,” she said. She led him to a room on the left side at the end of the hallway.

“This is where you’re going to sleep. Your roommate is named Kenneth. You’ll meet him later today. He’s a very nice boy. About your age. You should both get along well.”

Nothing. Miss WIlliams frowned. She had hoped that the boy would have at least shown some reaction to learning that he was to have a roommate. Either good or bad. She wondered what had happened to him. But until he was able to communicate with her, there was no way for her to know.

*****

Dinner was a noisy affair for most of the boys at Healing Home. Aaron turned to the boy next to him. 

“Alan. What do you think of the new kid?” he asked casually.

“He’s okay,” Alan shrugged. He turned to the still silent boy in question. “Okay. You don’t talk. But you seem nice enough. Wanna be friends?”

Receiving neither a positive nor negative response, Alan shrugged again. “That’s cool. I’ll take it as a maybe.”

Miss Williams smiled. Alan had lost most of his friends, and all of his family, in an apartment fire when he’d been nine. He’d been at Healing Home since then. And he had just celebrated his sixteenth birthday. 

Another boy walked into the dining room.

Miss Williams waved to him and beckoned him to the empty chair next to the new boy’s.

“Kenneth,” she said. “How was work today?”

Kenneth was a little more proactive than the other boys. At the age of sixteen, he’d decided he wasn’t going to live as a homeless Blank when he became too old to live in Healing Home. So he had found himself a small job working at the Zik Zak Know Chow restaurant two blocks down the street. It wasn’t much, but it was at least a steady paycheck. 

“Tiring,” Kenneth said. He looked at the new boy as he sat down next to him.

“What’s your name?” he asked him.

“He doesn’t speak,” Miss Williams explained. “But he’s your new roommate.”

“Aw, Miss Williams!” Kenneth complained. “You know how tired work makes me! I need my sleep at night.”

Kenneth turned to the silent boy. “Well, at least you’re quiet. As long as you don’t wake up screaming every night like my last roommate, I think we’ll get along just fine.”

The new boy ate his dinner in silence. When the meal was over, and the plates had been collected, most of the boys congregated in the TV room. 

Shying away from the TV, the newest resident of Healing Home flopped onto his bed and just lay there, staring at the patterns of the wallpaper at the head of his bed.

 

Back at his apartment, Edison Carter finished brushing his teeth. He tossed the disposable cup into the bathroom basket and turned down the volume on the TV to a reasonable level for night. 

“Any sign of him, Max?” he asked the face of his on-screen doppelganger.

Max Headroom shook his head. “I’ve check-check-checked every place in the city and the surrounding areas that has a TV set-set-set.” he replied. “I can’t find B-B-Bryce anywhere.. If only we still had the securicam foot-foot-footage for his studio. But whoever has him made sure to eliminate-nate-nate that clue. So we’ve got noth-noth-nothing to go on. On.”

“I just wish I could’ve been there,” Edison said, a mountain of regret weighing him down. 

“Did you plan to watch him sleep sleep sleep?” Max asked.

Edison sighed. “No, Max.”

A terrible thought occured to Edison. One that had come a lot now that Bryce had been missing for nearly a week. In the world he lived in, Edison had never heard of anyone missing for more than two days. Personal Ident Codes. Credit tubes with the owner’s identity programmed into them. These things prevented anyone who wasn’t a Blank from just disappearing into thin air. Edison had toyed on the first day with the idea that Bryce had become a Blank. But he dismissed the idea. Without Network 23’s support, Bryce would have no funding or space for the research he loved to do. 

“Try the body banks,” he choked out.

“Already did,” Max replied “Hap-hap-happily, he’s not there either. Neither under confirmed identity or as a Blank Doe. Look. You can’t do anything more tonight-night-night. Get some sleep. We’ll continue the search tomorrow.”

“I wish I could sleep, Max,” Edison said, laying down and flipping the TV to stand-by.

Max dimmed the lights through the home’s control panel, then went on the cause a few minor headaches for the Zik Zak Corporation with his newest set of sponsor-deprecating jokes.

*****

Back in Healing Home, Kenneth and his unspeaking roommate climbed into their beds and turned off the lights. In the near darkness, lit only by the street lamps filtered through the bedroom curtains since Healing Home had no TVs in the bedrooms, Kenneth turned to his roommate’s bed. He considered saying “good night” but decided that it would be pointless. Instead, he rolled over to face the wall and was soon fast asleep.

His roommate stayed awake for another hour, before sleep finally claimed him, unaware that others were searching, determined to find him.


	3. Caring and Carrots

Chapter Three: Caring and Carrots

Kenneth was awakened by the whimpers of his roommate. Checking the bedside alarm clock, he let out an irritated groan.

“Four in the morning,” he muttered. He looked over at the boy and decided that he was having a worse time of it. He climbed out of bed, went to the office, and knocked on the door.

The staff member working that night was Mrs. Adams. A widow at the age of fifty-nine, she was a bit grumpy but good-natured and maternal. These were her boys, as far as she was concerned, and she protected them like a mother bear.

“Mrs. Adams,” Kenneth told her when she answered the door. “My roommate is having a nightmare.”

Mrs. Adams followed him back to his room. The boy was still whimpering even more now. She shook him gently until he awakened and looked up at her with terrified eyes.

“Hush, child,” she told him as she looked at him. “It’s okay. I’m Mrs. Adams. I came on duty at eleven. I won’t ever harm you. Kenneth can tell you that. You trust Kenneth. Right?”

Kenneth turned to his roommate. “She’s a bit of a bear sometimes, but she’s harmless.”

Mrs. Adams made a slight face at the bear comment, then smiled reassuringly. The boy relaxed, the fear leaving his eyes. Mrs. Adams was grateful to see this. It hurt her heart to see anyone suffer in any way. 

Kenneth wondered what his roommate’s nightmare had been about. Whatever it was, at least it was over. 

“Now that that excitement is over, I’m going to try to get a couple hours more sleep,” Kenneth told Mrs. Adams and his roommate. He looked directly at his roommate. “Try to have only good dreams from now on.”

The boy blinked sleepily at him as he also lie back down and rested his head upon the soft firm pillow.

Mrs. Adams tucked them both in, then went to the door.

“Sleep well,” she bade as she turned off the light.

*****

Edison walked into work at Network 23 a couple of hours later. He grabbed a cup of coffee and joined Theora at her control desk.

“Morning, Edison,” she yawned, glancing up at him.

“No sleep,” he asked, noticing the bags under her eyes.

“No,” Theora shook her head and took a sip of her own coffee. “I wish we could find Bryce.” She started a new search on her control computer. LInking to the sat-cam system, she tapped in Bryce’s ident code. 

LAST KNOWN LOCATION: NETWORK 23. 

She growled in frustration, remembering that his credit tubes had been found sitting on the desk beside his computer. That had been the first clue that something was amiss. That he hadn’t simply ducked out to get lunch at Zik Zak’s fast food restaurant. 

Murray walked in and saw them there.

“Still no sign of Bryce, then?” he asked.

Theora shook her head.

“Does it look like he’s here?” Edison grumbled.

Murray poured a cup of coffee and disappeared into his office. A grouchy Edison Carter wasn’t something he wanted to deal with at six in the morning.

*****

The boy’s nightmare was still bothering him when woke the next morning. The nice lady who had pulled him from it had been a reassuring presence. But she hadn’t driven the fearsome visage from his mind entirely.

A face, blurry and unrecognizable. It had terrified him nonetheless. Who was that man? Why was he so frightening to him?

Kenneth noticed the look of bewildered fear on his roommate’s face.

“Rough night, huh?” he asked sympathetically. He was in a better mood now that he’d got in a couple more hours sleep. His roommate, still lying in bed, said nothing.

Realizing that the boy probably had nothing to wear but what he’d come there with, Kenneth pulled a set of clothes from his dresser.

“I’m a little bigger than you,” he told him, placing the clothes on the end of the boy’s bed. “But these shouldn’t be too baggy. The belt will keep the pants up. I’m sure Miss Williams will bring you some fresh clothes later today.”

The boy sat up and took off the clothes he’d worn to bed. As he stood up and turned to put on the jeans Kenneth had just loaned him, Kenneth let out a gasp of pity.

The boy’s back was covered with many healing welts and bruises. It was clear that he’d been beaten and whipped very badly. 

~At least there aren’t any burns,~ Kenneth thought. He decided to tell Miss Williams about it when he saw her. 

Kenneth’s roommate finished getting dressed, hiding the wounds on his back. Then he sat on the bed and waited to see what Kenneth would do. He didn’t know the routine of this place, so he decided to make Kenneth his unofficial guide.

Kenneth finished putting on his own clothes and headed off to the dining room, the boy following close behind.

They sat down at the breakfast table, Kenneth grunting a “good morning” in response to the overly cheerful one given by Aaron, who hadn’t been awakened in the small hours of the morning.

They tucked into their breakfast, which consisted of scrambled eggs, blueberry muffins, and sausages. 

Kenneth turned to his roommate. “After breakfast we have class for an hour,” he said. “You’ll like Miss Cole. She’s really nice. And smart, too. We’ve been learning a lot from her.”

 

“And,” Alan added around a mouthful of sausage ,”after class we have gardening. It’s hard work. But it’s kind of nice watching something you’ve planted yourself grow from a little seed to a nice delicious carrot.”

The boy didn’t really know what Alan was talking about, but Alan sounded like it was something good. 

After breakfast was over, Kenneth went to find Miss Williams.

“What is it, Kenneth?” she asked.

“That new boy,” Kenneth told her, “his back is all messed up. You should take a look. He’s got whip marks all over it.”

Miss Williams frowned at this. “Thank you, Kenneth,” she said. “And I noticed he’s wearing one of your outfits. That was very nice of you. I’m planning to pick up a few things for him later.”

~Just as I thought she would,~ Kenneth thought to himself. 

Miss Williams found the boy sitting in the living room.

“It’ll be class time in a few minutes,” she told him. “Miss Cole likes to do her teaching on the patio. But first I want to see you in the office. Don’t worry, you didn’t do anything wrong. I just want to have a look at something quickly before class begins.”

The boy followed her into the office. 

“Turn around,” she instructed, hoping he was lucid enough to follow her instructions. “I want to have a look at your back.”

The boy turned, cringing as she pulled up the back of his shirt, exposing the wounds Kenneth had seen earlier.

~So that’s why,~ Miss Williams thought to herself. ~Poor kid. It’s going to take a lot of therapy to get past this level of abuse.~

“Thank you, dear,” she said, lowering the shirt and turning the boy to face her. “I promise, you won’t ever have to go through that again. If your family did this to you, you can be assured you won’t be going back to them. I’ll find you a good family who will treat you better than the monsters who did this.”

Miss Williams felt family was important. Even if one of her boys was old enough to strike out on his own, she would find him an adoptive family if need be. That way, the boy would always have that family’s emotional support when he needed it. It didn’t seem right to her for her boys to just be sent out into the world completely alone.

The boy seemed to brighten at her reassuring tone. And for a moment, Miss Williams hoped he would finally speak. But words continued to fail him.

“Well, class is about to start,” Miss Williams said. She led the boy out to the patio where Miss Cole was in the middle of speaking.

“Ah,” Miss Cole smiled, craning her neck as she looked up to see the new arrival. She indicated an empty space at one of the two picnic tables. “Have a seat.”

The boy sat as Miss Cole continued speaking.

“Does anyone know how the networks became so powerful?” she asked.

Nobody answered.

“In 1997,” Miss Cole told them, “just after the end of the third world war, most of the human race was in shock. Nearly two thirds of the population had been wiped out. Many of the countries’ leaders and war heroes were gone along with everybody else. We, as a species, turned to anyone with reassuring words. Most of those people were the reporters and advertisers who appeared on our screens each night to give us information and promise us reassurance if we bought their products. In time, we became more and more addicted to these reassurances. Networks, such as World One and Network 23,” she noticed that the new boy became more attentive when she mentioned Network 23, “took advantage of this and began to restructure themselves around it. In 1999, they revised the political landscape by creating the first telelections. While this was going on, Zik Zak was buying out the few small companies that managed to survive the war. This was easy, since most of them did not have the power or finances needed to sell their goods beyond their own cities.”

The boy seemed to recognize the name Zik Zak as well. Though this was not unusual given that Zik Zak sold just about everything to everyone.

Miss Cole made a note of it all the same.

*****

As Miss Williams picked out new clothes for the unnamed boy back at Healing Home, she frowned to herself. Why hadn’t the doctors informed her of the boy’s injuries? For that matter, had they even paid attention to them. If they had assumed he was a Blank, she doubted that they would have. Blanks had no way of paying, so they were lucky if they got a band-aid before being sent back out onto the streets. Often the younger ones were sent into state homes or foster families, even if they had loving parents who lived with them in the Fringes.

She paid for the clothes she had picked out and drove back to Healing Home, her mind focused on working out the best way to start the new boy’s recovery.

*****


	4. Max's Discovery

Chapter 04: Max’s Discovery

 

Miss Williams found her newest charge working in the garden with Aaron and Alan. Walking over to him, she watched him as he watered the plants, waiting until he’d finished his row.

“Can I borrow him for a moment?” she asked the gardener.

The gardener nodded and motioned for the new boy to follow Miss Williams who led him into her office.

“I picked up some new clothes for you,” she said. “I’m a pretty good judge of size, so they should fit. You can bring these up to your room and put them in your dresser. Then you can rejoin the others in the garden.”

The boy took the new clothes and carried them up to his room. A short time later, he came back down and returned to the garden.

“This row needs watering,” the gardener told him as he showed him where to continue from.

The boy dutifully watered the row of plants while Aaron finished weeding the next row and Alan dealt with the weeds in the next row over from that..

Miss Williams watched the boys work the garden for a while. She liked to see them work in the garden. It was good for them to get outside and do some reasonably hard work. It built character and camaraderie. 

After a couple of hours, the gardening was finished for the day. The boys put away their gloves and tools and went inside to get ready for afternoon free time.

“Just a moment,” Miss Williams told the new boy. “I’d like to speak to you.”

The boy paused, looking apprehensive.

“You haven’t done anything wrong per se,” she told him. “But I must ask that you watch television with us for an hour before heading up to your room tonight. It’s important that you socialize with us, even if you aren’t ready to speak yet.”

She didn’t add that she didn’t want the home to be closed down for subversion if she let her charges ignore the TV for any extended period of time. 

The boy made no indication that he’d understood her. She could only hope he had.

*****

That night, the boy joined the others in the living room. The TV was tuned to Network 66 which was showing Porky’s Landing, their well-known soap opera.

“Do we really need to watch this?” Kenneth ranted. “Put on something else!”

Alan reached for the remote and switched over to Network 23. Unfortunately it was showing Lumpy’s Proletariat, which was one of the Network’s less loved shows.

“And we’ll be right-right-right back with Lumpy’s Proletariat after a word from Zik Zik Zik Zak,” Max announced. He was about to say something more when he spotted the unnamed boy who was seated beside Kenneth on the sofa at Healing Home. His eyes widened for a moment as he waited for said boy to say something to him. But the boy gave no sign of recognition. Max was certain, however, that he’d found his lost friend.

“Edison!” he hissed on Edison’s screen.

Edison turned and saw that the screen wasn’t showing Lumpy’s Proletariat. Instead, it was showing an unknown living room… and Bryce!

“You found him!” Edison cried out, almost in tears of joy. “Where is he, Max?”

Max brought up the address.

“He doesn’t seem to rec-rec-recognize me,” he told Edison.

Edison watched the activity in the Healing Home living room for a bit.

“He doesn’t seem to be reacting to anything,” he observed. “Something’s happened to him. Put me through to whoever runs that place.”

The picture soon changed to view-phone mode as Max made the call.

“Healing Home,” Mrs, Adams answered. “I’m Mrs Adams. How may I help you.”

“Max Headroom noticed a boy in your living room who we’ve been looking for since earlier this week.” Edison told her.

Mrs. Adams realized he was talking about the boy whose name they did not know. At least she’d be able to discover his identity.

“Who is he?” she asked. “And what does a famous reporter like Edison Carter want with him. If you’re calling to interview him, I can tell you he is too traumatized at the moment to be exploited for ratings.”

“I would never exploit him,” Edison assured her. “Bryce happens to be our Head of Research and Development.”

“Bryce,” Mrs. Adams made a note of the name in the boy’s file. “Well, Mr. Carter. As much as I appreciate you and Network 23 wanting him back, he’s not going anywhere until he’s recovered enough to make the choice along with us.”

“Network 23 needs him,” Edison told her. “He’s very important to us.”

“This isn’t about what Network 23 needs, Mr. Carter,” Mrs. Adams pointed out, indignantly. “This is about what Bryce needs. And right now that is ongoing treatment for the trauma he’s suffered.”

Edison realized she was right. “May I at least visit him?” he requested.

“You’ll have to ask Miss Williams that,” Mrs. Adams said. “I don’t arrange visits. You can call and speak to her tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you,” Edison told her. “And thank you and Miss Williams for taking care of Bryce.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Carter,” Mrs. Adams said a little more kindly as she disconnected the call. Looking down at the still open file, she realized she hadn’t asked for the boy’s last name. Still, it was at least some information.


	5. Progress At Last

Chapter 05: Progress at Last

“How were they last night?” Miss Williams asked as she walked into the office in the morning.

“Well-behaved,” Mrs. Adams told her. “We got some information on the new kid.”

“Oh?” Miss Williams raised an eyebrow.

“Edison Carter called,” Mrs. Adams explained. “He said the kid’s name is Bryce. I didn’t get the last name. Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Miss Williams told her. “But why did Edison Carter call? What’s he got to do with Bryce?”

“A lot,” Mrs. Adams replied. “Bryce is, or at least was, Network 23’s Head of Research and Development.”

“Must be a genius,” Miss Williams decided. “That’s a lot to remember. He’s going to be a trickier case than I thought, then. At least we know his name now.”

Mrs. Adams nodded. “Carter’s going to be calling later this morning. He wants to arrange a visit with Bryce.”

“I’d better speak to him and prepare him for it, then, Miss Williams decided. She left the office and went into the dining room.

“I want to see you in my office when you’re finished with breakfast,” she told him.

*****

Miss Williams looked at Bryce as he walked into her office. It was a delicate moment, she realized. For a second she wondered if she shouldn’t use his name. If it might trigger a bad memory. She decided she would use it. He had the right to know who he was. And if a bad memory was triggered, she would help him deal with it. Everything would be okay.”

“A friend of yours called,” she told him. “He says your name is Bryce.”

Bryce blinked at the sound of his name. He seemed to be trying to process something. 

Miss Williams waited to see what he would do. After a moment, he simply nodded in agreement, so she continued. “Your friend would like to pay you a visit. It will be supervised. But you have the right to refuse. And if I think he’s the one who hurt you, he will never be allowed to visit again. Do you want to see him?”

Bryce nodded again. Miss Williams was glad to see that he was at least responding now, even if the responses were nonverbal.

*****

“We found him,” Edison told Theora as she walked into the control room.

At first the words didn’t register with her. Then Theora turned from the coffee machine.

“You found Bryce?!”

“Max found him actually,” Edison admitted. “He’s at a home for abused boys.I’m dropping by to pay a visit later. You want to come along?”

“Not this time,” Theora said, regretfully. “There must be a reason he was sent there. Too many visitors from his past all at once might be too much for him. I’ll visit him on my own some other time.”

“You’re probably right,” Edison conceded. 

“So what’s the name of the place? Theora asked.

“Healing Home,” Edison told her. 

“Cheviot wants you to head over to the new Zik Zak Know Clothes grand opening,” Murray told Edison as he walked into the room and headed for his office.

“Other plans,” Edison said. “I’m visiting Bryce.”

“You found him,” Murray said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God! Where is he?”

“Healing Home,” Edison told him. “It’s a home for abused and traumatized boys.”

Murray’s face fell. “Why? What happened to him?”

“I don’t know yet,” Edison said. “But I do know they’re refusing to release him into our custody until they’ve determined if it would be good for him to come back to us or not.”

“Network 23 needs Bryce,” Murray said. 

Theora cleared her throat.

“Yes?” Edison asked her.

“What if Healing Home is better for Bryce than Network 23?” she asked them.

*****

Edison pondered Theora’s question as Martinez flew him to Healing Home in Network 23’s helicopter.

“You think Bryce should stay where he is?” he asked the chopper jockey.

“I don’t know,” Martinez admitted. “I think he should be wherever he’s happiest. How is he doing right now?”

“I haven’t spoken to him,” Edison replied. “I don’t know.”

Martinez landed the helicopter a block from the home and Edison alighted, making his way to the sidewalk. 

“I’m here,” Edison told Theora over the vidicam link.

“Go left. It’s the semi-detached house in blue at the end of the road.” Theora told him.

Edison headed in the direction Theora had provided. When he got to the right address, he knocked on the door.

Miss Williams answered the door. “Good morning, Mr. Carter,” she eyed the camera. “I understand why you must carry that on you at all times. However, I must ask that you keep it on standby mode only. We value our residents’ privacy here at Healing Home.”

“Of course,” Edison agreed, switching the vidicam to standby.

“Thank you,” Miss Williams said, gratefully. “Now what can you tell me about Bryce? Let’s start with his full name.”

“Bryce Lynch,” Edison said. “As I said before, he’s Head of Research and Development at Network 23.”

“What about his family?” Miss Williams wanted to know.

“I don’t know anything about them,” Edison admitted. “I don’t know if his parents are alive, or if he has any siblings.”

“Someone must pick him up for work,” Miss Williams reasoned.

“He lives at the Network,” Edison explained. “He has an apartment there.”

Miss Williams frowned. “That’s hardly a proper environment for a teenager, Mr. Carter. Even a genius. You’re telling me that he has no one to speak to when he’s not working. That nobody is there to guide him or support him?”

“Max Headroom is…”

“Max Headroom may be very funny, but he’s a poor substitution for a role model.” Miss Williams argued. “Unless you can provide me with proof that you can make improvements, I’m going to have to find different arrangements for Bryce. Being locked away in a television network building is not appropriate.”

“Bryce needs his friends,” Edison told her.

“That’s something I agree with,” Miss Williams nodded. “But he needs a better living environment to enjoy time with his friends in.”

“May I see him?” Edison asked.

Miss Williams nodded. “He’s been made aware of your visit,” she said, rising from her chair and going to the door. “But I warn you, if I see any negative reaction, you’ll have to leave. I know you’ve missed him. But I have his well-being to think of.”

“Understood,” Edison agreed as he followed her into the backyard.

It seemed odd to Edison to see Bryce, who he was used to seeing behind a computer screen, working in the garden with the other boys. Bryce was on his knees pulling weeds from a row of carrot plants.

“Bryce,” Miss Williams called to him. “Mr. Carter is here.”

Bryce looked at the gardener who nodded his permission. He stood up and went to join Edison and Miss Williams.

“Bryce,” Edison told him. He wanted to hug the boy, but wasn’t sure how Bryce would react.  
Bryce blinked at him.

“We miss you,” Edison told him. “Everyone at Network 23 is terribly worried about you.”

Bryce’s lip trembled as if he wanted to speak. But nothing came out. He looked at Edison with a mix of emotions he could not put a label on. Edison was his friend. He knew that. The reporter always protected his friends. And he would not allow further harm to come to Bryce. 

On the other hand, going back to Network 23 would put him in danger again. He didn’t want to go back.He couldn’t feel safe there anymore.

“What’s wrong, Bryce?” Edison asked, concernedly.

Miss Williams watched Bryce carefully. She could see he was getting upset. But she could also see that he was struggling to speak. She debated in her mind whether to make Edison leave. If she did, she might lose the chance to get Bryce to open up. But if she didn’t, a memory he wasn’t ready for might send him deeper into himself.

Edison, realizing the situation himself, stood up. He decided he was upsetting Bryce and didn’t want to cause the boy any further pain.

“I should go,” he said, regretfully, to Bryce. “You’re not ready for this visit.”

Bryce looked at Edison. The man was about to leave. And Bryce didn’t know when he would come back. Or even if he would. There were so many things he wanted to tell the reporter. The first being how he’d ended up at Healing Home. He had to tell him. 

As Edison turned to go, Bryce reached out to him.

“Edison,” Miss Williams said, alerting him to Bryce’s action.

“Bryce?” Edison asked, urgently. “What is it?”

They waited for several minutes. Finally, Bryce managed to speak.

“Edison,” he said in a shaky voice. “It was Ashwell.”

“What did he do?” Edison asked.

Bryce did not reply, and Edison realized it had taken a great deal of courage for him to say as much as he had.

“May I show him?” Miss. Williams asked Bryce.

Bryce nodded, solemnly.

Miss Williams lifted the back of Bryce’s shirt, revealing the wounds that were healing there.

Edison’s expression grew hard. He wanted to find Ashwell and beat the man to a pulp for what he’d done to Bryce 

“I’m sorry,” he told Bryce. “And I’m angry. Nobody should be hurt that way. I’ll take care of it, Bryce. That jerk won’t be at Network 23 for much longer.”

“Thank you,” Bryce told him timidly. 

“I want you to think on this next question very carefully,” Edison said gently. “Don’t answer right away. I want you to continue to work with me. You’re very important to me and it’s hard for me to do my reports without your help. My question is, do you want to work with me from here or from Network 23? I can bring you a computer that you can connect with if you’d rather stay here. It’s your choice.”

Bryce began to speak, but Edison shook his head.

“Give it some time,” he told his young friend. “You won’t be returning right away at any rate. You’re still recovering. And I will visit you from time to time if you choose to remain here. Me and Theora. We will never abandon you. That’s a promise.”

Bryce reached out for him, a look of need in his eyes.

Edison smiled and hugged Bryce, stroking the boy’s hair reassuringly while tears fell from his eyes.

Miss Williams smiled as she watched them. It was good to see Bryce speaking again. She would encourage further visits with Mr. Carter as this one had been so beneficial.

“Are they treating you well here, Bryce?” the man asked.

“Yes,” Bryce told him. “It’s funny to be taking high school classes, though, since I graduated from college already. But the teacher is interesting. We discussed the rise of network television the other day.”

“That does sound interesting,” Edison agreed. He turned to Miss Williams. “Thank you for taking care of Bryce.”

“It’s no problem,” Miss Williams told him. “Bryce is a good kid. He’s just been through a lot.”

“I have to leave,” Edison apologized. “But I will come back. I promise.”

“Why did it take you so long to find me?” Bryce asked him.

“Ashwell destroyed the securicam files of your abduction,” Edison explained. “We couldn’t get a trace on you. We searched the medcenters, but you must’ve been admitted as a Blank Doe and then none of the staff bothered to register you.”

Bryce sighed in annoyance at the uncaringness of the medcenter. 

“Well, you’re here now,” he decided. “How did you find me?”

“Max spotted you,” Edison explained. “He told me where you were.”

Bryce nodded and smiled a little. 

“I have to go,” Edison apologized. “Cheviot will kill me. I’m already late to my assignment. I will come back,” he promised.

Bryce smiled. Edison hugged him once more, then turned and departed.

“You did well, Bryce,” Miss Williams said. “I’m proud of you.”

Bryce beamed at her for a moment, then frowned in bemusement.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“What happens if I stay here?” he asked in return.

“Let’s go to my office and talk,” Miss Williams offered.


	6. Where Next?

Chapter 06: Where Next?

Once Bryce was comfortably seated, Miss Williams took her place behind the desk and took out his file.

“Now that we know who you are and where you’re from, let’s discuss where you’re going from here.” she suggested.

Bryce nodded.

“What can you tell me about your birth family first off?” Miss Williams asked.

“I haven’t seen them since I was ten,” Bryce told her. “I guess they wanted me to be independent or something. Not that I made any attempt at communication either.”

“Why not?” Miss Williams asked.

“I guess I just got too busy with studying and school work. And by the time I graduated, it had been so long, and they hadn’t called me either. I guess I felt resentful. So I decided not to bother trying.”

“Where did you live before you went to school?” Miss Williams asked.

“Mornington Crescent,” Bryce told her.

Miss Williams frowned. “Bryce, the apartments at Mornington Crescent burned down in 2001.”

Bryce looked downcast for a moment. “It might be possible that my family moved before then.” he considered, clutching onto a small thread of hope.

“But unlikely if they never called you to say they were okay,” Miss Williams told him. She felt bad for Bryce. But as tragic as the news was, it did make things easier for her. She could set up his adoption, if he wanted to go that route, more easily without tracking down his current family to fill out transfer of custody paperwork.

Bryce wiped an unexpected tear from his eye. He couldn’t believe he had any feelings left for his parents after so many years. Especially after the training he’d had at ACS that taught him to rein in his emotions. He supposed his recent encounter had brought those emotions back to the surface. 

“What type of family could you see yourself as a part of?” Miss Williams asked him. 

Bryce appeared thoughtful for a moment. He had never considered being part of a family again. He’d been alone in his studio at Network 23 since the age of twelve. During that time, his contact with others had been business-only, at least until Edison and Theora had become part of his life. He thought about Theora. She was nice. But he had the feeling she would not be considered as a candidate for motherhood. Miss Williams had said “family” and Bryce was certain that she wanted him to have two parents at least, and probably at least one sibling.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Not too big. But I don’t want to be an only child again. I remember it was lonely growing up with nobody my own age to talk to. The other kids at grade school didn’t like me. They said I was stuck up because I used words of more than two syllables.”

Miss Williams gave him a sympathetic smile.

“Well,” she said. “Let’s see if we can find you a sibling or two, then, shall we? How does an older brother sound? I’ve heard they can be great listeners.”

“I’d like that,” Bryce agreed.  
Miss Williams smiled. “Well, it’s just about lunchtime. Why don’t you join the other boys in the dining room while I start looking for your new family?”

“Okay,” Bryce agreed as he stood and left the office.

Miss Williams tapped in the number for the adoption agency that Healing Home worked with. She wondered what kind of family would be best suited for a teen genius such as Bryce. How he would fit in after so many years of forced self-reliance. It would not be easy for him. And there would be a tricky adjustment period for both Bryce and his new family. But she felt it would be worth it for his sake.

“Good morning, Miss Williams,” the man on the other end said, happily. “I am hoping that you have a new candidate for adoption?”

“Good morning, Mr. King,” Miss Williams replied. “Yes, I might. He’s sixteen. He’s got a few problems that you need to be aware of.”

“I expected as much,” Mr. King assured her. “What problems are we talking about?”

“He was recently traumatized by a violent attack,” Miss Williams told him. “That’s all I can tell you about that. Also, he spent his life from age twelve until recently in a less-than-desirable living situation. I can’t go into details, but I can tell you that he was shut up alone during that time.”

“Does he have trouble with others?” Mr. King asked.

“Surprisingly no,” Miss Williams assured him. “He gets along with the other boys just fine. And he’s willing to work alongside them in the garden.”

“I’d like to meet him,” Mr. King said. “I want to do an interview and find out more about him before I select a few families to see which one he’ll be best suited to.”

“When can you come?” Miss Williams asked him.

“I’m really busy today with the paperwork from three adoptions last week that needs to be finished. But I can be there tomorrow. What time works out for you?”

“How about eleven a.m.? Miss Williams suggested. “After class.”

“That would be splendid,” Mr. King agreed. “I will see you tomorrow at eleven.”

*****

“”Cheviot wants to know your ETA at Know Clothes,” Theora told Edison.

“Tell him I’m taking a sick day,” Edison replied. “I’m going home, Theora. I’ve got too much to think about for me to be going around holding up packages of women’s undergarments for ratings.”

“Cheviot’s going to blow a gasket if you duck out now,” Murray warned him.

“Cheviot’s already going to blow a gasket when he finds out what happened to Bryce.”

“Edison…” Theora began.

“No,” Edison growled. “I’m not going. Cheviot can get Angie Bari to do it. I’m going to go home and take a few hours to calm down. I don’t want to be anywhere near Network 23 until tomorrow morning.”

“I take it your visit with Bryce didn’t go so well, then,” Theora remarked.

“I saw something that broke my heart and made my blood boil,” Edison replied. “Bryce’s back was covered with welts. Ashwell apparently took a whip to him and beat him until he ended up in the medical center.”

“Oh my god,” Theora gasped while Murray’s eyes widened in horror.

“He was hurt so bad, that he hadn’t spoken for days,” Edison explained.

“How long until he’s recovered enough to return,” Murray asked.

“I don’t think he is going to return,” Edison admitted. “When Bryce confided to Miss Williams, the woman who runs Healing Home, that he had spent the years between the age twelve an his current age in a studio apartment at Network 23… you’d think he’d told her he was living in a dragon-guarded tower. She made it quite clear that he’s not going anywhere until she finds him better living conditions.”

“An adoptive family?” Theora asked. 

“I think so,” Edison replied. “And I don’t think she’ll consider any of us for the part. She seemed to be focusing on a full-sized family. You know… mom, dad, brother or sister, and maybe a puppy…”

“That would be really nice for Bryce, Theora said approvingly.

“What about this Network?” Murray asked, practically. “We need Bryce in order for things to run smoothly.”

“Already way ahead of you, Mur’,” Edison said. “I told Bryce that no matter where he ended up, if he wanted to continue helping us, I would arrange for him to have a computer that he could link to the Network.”

“That’s perfect,” Theora remarked. “Oh, I do hope they find Bryce a good family. He’s been alone for far too long.”


	7. Interviews

Chapter 07: Interviews

Bryce sat fidgeting in Miss Williams office when Mr. King entered the room.

“Good morning,” Mr. King said, jovially. “You look a little nervous. Is everything okay?”

“It’s just a big step,” Bryce remarked. “Like getting married.”

“Actually, it’s just like getting married,” Mr. King agreed. “Except instead of a spouse you’re being promised the love of an entire family. So it’s even better in that sense.”

Bryce smiled in agreement.

“So,” Mr. King prompted. “Tell me about yourself. Try to be as open as possible. The more I know about you, the better I can fit you in with the right family.”

“Okay,” Bryce agreed. “Well, I left my original home when I was ten after being accepted at the Academy of Computer Sciences.”

Mr. King raised an eyebrow. 

“I attended ACS until I was twelve. After that I began work at Network 23.”

“Network 23,” Mr. King noted. “Miss Williams said you lived at the Network?”

Bryce nodded. “My research studio had a small alcove where my bed was and a medium sized bathroom with the usual amenities.”

“I see,” Mr. King said. “What about a kitchen?”

“No,” Bryce shook his head. “But there was the vending machine on the next floor up and the cafeteria.”

“But you did interact with other Network 23 employees, correct?”

“Not very often,” Bryce admitted regretfully. “I was on Level 13. Most of them didn’t even know I exist. Edison Carter is one of the best reporters out there, and he didn’t even know I was there until the Blipvert incident.”

Mr. King frowned. “So nobody was even told you were there?”

“No,” Bryce looked downcast. He began to wonder if he’d been deliberately isolated. It hurt to think that such a thing could have been possible.

“Cheer up,” Mr. King said. “That’s all behind you now. Miss Williams and I are going to find you a family who will love you and will see to it that all the damage those people did to you is repaired as much as possible.”

Bryce brightened a bit at this. 

“Do you have a family in mind?” he asked.

“I’m going to check a couple I have in my files,” Mr. King replied. “I’ll have them meet you so that you and they can get to know each other. After that, the decision will be up to you and whichever family you pick.”

“When will the meetings take place?” Bryce asked eagerly.

“As soon as the families are able to meet with us,” Mr. King told him. “It depends upon their schedules.”

“I can’t wait,” Bryce replied.

Mr. King smiled at him as he stood up. “Hopefully we’ll have the first meeting soon.” he promised.

*****

It was almost a week before Bryce was to meet the first potential family. He spent the ride from Healing Home to the adoption agency tapping on the car window and biting his lower lip.

“I apologize for the wait,” Mr. King said when they arrived. “You have two families to meet today. The Archers and the Morvens. Mr. Archer works long hours, and he wanted to meet you along with his wife and their daughter. The Morvens just returned from spending a week at church camp.”

Bryce gave a slight nod as he followed Mr. King into the room where the first family waited.

“Bryce,” Mr. King introduced, “this is Mr. and Mrs. Archer and their daughter Wendy.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Bryce,” Mrs. Archer told him.

Mr. Archer looked him over appraisingly for a moment.

“How are your grades in school?” he asked in an interested voice.

“Actually, I graduated ACS near the top of my class,” Bryce replied. 

“Really?” Mrs. Archer asked. “Well, what do you intend to do with your time since you’re not attending high school?”

“Until recently, I was working at Network 23. Between Cheviot and Carter I didn’t have much in the way of free time.”

Mrs. Archer smiled sympathetically. “As a housewife with a part time job, I don’t get much of that either,” she told him.

“I can see about getting you part time work at the tool and die shop where I work. I doubt you’d be able to work on the line, but they’ve been complaining about the IT workers there for a while now. The robots at the end of the line are always breaking down.”

Bryce grinned at the idea of a challenge like that. He really didn’t want to be sitting around all day doing nothing.

Mr. King on the other hand, wasn’t so sure about it. The Archers were a nice family. Good hardworking people. And they did seem cheerful. But he thought they might push Bryce harder than he was emotionally ready to deal with. Plus there was the added worry that they would not have a lot of time to spend with each other with all the work the parents were doing as well as Wendy’s spending so much time in school or doing homework. Still, it wasn’t up to him to decide.

Bryce waited for one of the Archers to speak. He didn’t really know how to approach them. They were okay in his mind. But the whole thing felt more like a job interview and he was pretty sure that wasn’t what he’d come here for. 

“Well,” Mr. Archer said after a long silence. “I think you’re a fine young man, Bryce. But I get the impression you don’t feel like you’d fit in with us. We don’t seem to click as they say. Don’t be too sad, though. I’m sure you will find the right family. And I wish you all the luck in the world.”

Bryce felt both sad and relieved at this.

“Thank you,” he said, solemnly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t what you were looking for.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Mrs. Archer said. “Just like you’ve got the right family out there waiting for you, we’ve got the right son or daughter waiting for us.”

“Good luck,” Wendy told him as she followed her parents out of the agency.

Mr. King turned to Bryce.

“Are you ready to meet the next family, or do you need a moment to compose yourself?”

“No, I’m ready,” Bryce told him. He hoped this next interview would go better than the first.

He followed Mr. King into the next room. 

“Mr and Mrs. Morven,” Mr. King introduced, “this is Bryce.”

The two adults were about to stand up and introduce themselves when a young man of about twenty beat them to it.

“Dan Morven. So, you’re gonna be my baby brother,” he laughed. 

“I spent several years as Head of Research and Development at Network 23,” Bryce remarked. “So I’m hardly a baby.”

“I don’t care if you were chairman of the board,” Dan chuckled. “You will always be my baby brother. Even when you’re a hundred years old.”

Bryce gave a cheerful grunt of resignation. 

Mrs. Morven smiled at them.

“A few things you should know about us, Bryce,” she said. “Our family are members of the View Age church. We do attend regular services on Sundays and enjoy church picnics and other outings.”

“Mr. King said you went to a church camp last week,” Bryce remembered.

“Yes,” Mr. Morven nodded with a smile. “We had a very nice time. I hope you’ll become a member of our family so you can attend the next one with us. It was so much fun!”

“Really?” Bryce asked, interestedly, “I’ve never been camping. What happens there?”

“Well church camp is a little different in that we sing songs like Oh, You Can’t Get To Heaven instead of On Top of Old Smokey and there’s Bible study group. But there’s also boating, swimming, and fishing as well as weenie roasts and bonfires with marshmallows.”

“What do you like to do at home?” Bryce wanted to know. 

“Well, besides watching television,” Mrs. Morven said, “we spend a good amount of our time making crafts together. And we don’t just watch TV. We have our favorite shows and we hold a family discussion about them afterward.”

“It can really be fun sometimes,” Dan laughed. “And you’d be surprised at how much insight you can gain into not only the shows, but also into each other.”

“Well put, Dan,” Mr. Morven laughed. “So, Bryce. You have anything you want to ask us?”

Bryce tried to think of questions. The Morvens were a very nice family. They were religious, but didn’t seem to be the fire and brimstone type. It was something he’d have to get used to, but he had the feeling he could do so very easily. 

“Just one thing,” he said. “Outside of church and TV, how do you spend your time?”

Dan grinned. “Well,” he said. “Right now I work at Zik Zak at one of the grocery stores. But once you’re a member of this family, I intend to add giving noogies to my baby brother as a regular pastime.”

“Remind me to booby-trap my bedroom door,” Bryce said to Mrs. Morven as an aside.

Mrs. Morven grinned happily back at him. To her it seemed as if Bryce had already begun to see himself as part of her family. 

Mr. King had the same impression.

“So, Bryce,” he said as he stood up. “What do you think?”

“I think I’ll fit in very nicely,” Bryce told him.

“How soon can we bring him home?” Mrs. Morven asked.

“How does next Friday sound?” Mr. King suggested.

“Brilliant!” Bryce laughed.

Mrs. Morven smiled. “May I hug you, Bryce?” she asked. She knew he’d been hurt and did not want to make him uncomfortable.

“I think I’d like that a lot,” Bryce told her. He found himself the center of a group hug a moment later. It felt good. He could feel himself smiling on the inside as well as on his face. 

“Well,” Mrs. Morven said. “We’d better get going. We have to fix up your bedroom, Bryce. We haven’t painted the walls yet. Mr. Morven wanted to know what color you’d like them to be.”

Bryce thought about it. “How about green?”

“Any particular shade of green?” Mr. Morven inquired.

“Viridian,” Bryce told him.

“Tricky, but I think I can arrange it,” Mr. Morven replied.

“Well, Bryce,” Mrs. Morven said with a smile. “I look forward to having you as my son. I think you’ll make a wonderful addition to our family.”

“I hope so,” Bryce laughed. “Oh, I hope this doesn’t spoil my chances, but Edison wants to give me a computer so I can continue working for Network 23 from home.”

Mrs. Morven shook her head. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” she told him. “I don’t mind you doing a little freelance for Mr.Carter specifically, if he needs a hand once in a while. But I don’t want you working full time for them until you’re older. You need to have time to be a teenager for a while. I don’t want Network 23 monopolizing your time. You’re not a robot. You’re a human being. It’s time you were treated like one.”

“Miss Williams and the others at Healing Home have been doing a very good job at that,” Bryce told her. “It’s actually nice to be treated like a person with feelings.”

“And that’s exactly how we’re going to treat you,” Mrs. Morven told him. “Now, if you want to help Mr. Carter, I’m sure that we can all come to an understanding that will let you do that without being taken advantage of.”

“That sounds good to me,” Bryce told her. He doubted Edison would like it, but as far as he was concerned, Network 23’s star reporter would just have to accept it or find someone else to help him. He wasn’t going to be Network 23’s trunk monkey anymore.


	8. Going Home

Chapter 08: Going Home

“You’re actually going home today,” Kenneth told Bryce with a touch of jealous admiration in his voice. “That’s really cool.”

“I still can’t believe it,” Bryce told him excitedly as he finished packing the clothing that Miss Williams had bought him. “I never had a big brother before. It’s going to be so awesome.”

“Bryce,” Miss Williams called, “your family is here.”

Bryce practically bounded down the stairs like an overexcited puppy. He hadn’t felt so happy since he had graduated. Actually even that moment felt dull in comparison.

Mrs. Morven hugged Bryce as soon as she saw him. 

“You ready to go home?” she asked with a cheerful smile on her face.

Bryce had been practicing for this moment in his mind for the entire week, trying to work out what he would call her. Mrs. Morven seemed too formal. Something one of the board members at Network 23 or Zik Zak would call her. And even if he had thought to ask her first name, he doubted she would’ve wanted him to use it. Too informal. What he might call a lab assistant. Mother? No… that was too clinical. Too scientific. Like something he’d write down while labeling a family of marmosets. No, there was only one right word for her.

“Yes, mom.” he replied.

Mr. Morven turned to Dan who had also come to pick up Bryce.

“Well, get your brother’s suitcase,” he urged.

Dan picked up the suitcase.

“You don’t have to do that,” Bryce told him, making no other move to stop Dan.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Dan laughed. “You can make up for it next month when we go camping. I’ll let you carry the cooler.”

“You can both carry the cooler next month,” Mrs. Morven told them. “It’ll be easier if you do it together.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Dan agreed. “Where are we going camping again?”

“Cornwall,” Mr. Morven reminded him. “South Penquite Farm. We missed out on the Snug so your mom and I are going to sleep in the Pod and you two will have to share the Baby Bear Yurt.”

“Baby Bear, mom? Really?” Dan asked, a bit taken aback by the name.

“It’s the only one that was available,” Mr. Morven told him. “Unless you’d rather sleep in the back of the car while we’re there.”

“Baby Bear sounds good to me,” Bryce decided.

“Definitely,” Dan agreed.

“Well,” Miss Williams said. “I guess this is goodbye, then.”

“Thanks for everything,” Bryce told her.

Miss Williams nodded and brushed a tear aside. She always got weepy-eyed when one of her boys left Healing Home for a new family. It made her feel especially happy to know they were being given a second chance at a good life.

“You’re always welcome to write and let me know how you’re doing,” she encouraged. “Send me some pictures from camp.”

Mrs. Morven spoke up at that. “I’ll be sure to get some pictures of the boys in the Baby Bear Yurt for you,” she said with an evil grin.

“You do that,” Miss Williams laughed. “I’d love to see it.”

“Well,” Mr. Morven urged. “We’d better get going. You ready, Bryce?”

Bryce nodded and followed his new family out to the car. He paused for a moment to look at Healing Home one final time. Then got into the back of the car and closed the door.


End file.
